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Wednesday, 27 May 2015

KAMCHATKA - Long Road Made Of Gold (Album Review)

Kamchatka

Long
Road Made Of Gold

Despotz
Records

22
May 2015

The
songs:

1.
Take Me Back Home

2.
Get Your Game On

3.
Made Of Gold

4.
Human Dynamo

5.
Rain

6.
Who's To Blame

7.
Mirror

8.
Slowly Drifting Away

9.
Long Road

10.
To You

The
band:

Thomas
"Juneor" Andersson - vocals, guitars

Tobias
Strandvik - drums

Per
Wiberg - bass guitar, keyboards, vocals

Review:

I
first came in touch with Kamchatka when they opened up for Clutch at
Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg, Sweden, back in 2007. They blew
everyone away that night, yours truly included, and I've followed
them ever since. I mean, how could I not. Mixing 60's rock'n'roll
with 70's heavy rock and blues amongst other styles, the band is a
cut above the rest. After all, very few bands can translate their
live sound to studio albums but my fellow Swedes does this with such
ease.

The
new album 'Long Road Made Of Gold'
follows hot on the heels of 2014's ground breaker 'The
Search Goes On', and is a perfect and
natural extension/progression of that recording. Even more so, as
Per Wiberg, who joined Kamchatka on bass guitar prior to last year's
release, fits in so well. It's discernable on 'The
Search Goes On' but now he has been even
more involved and this "new" collaboration works wonder.

A
frantic but wonderful banjo solo kickstarts opener 'Take
Me Back Home' and right from the start, the
band shows why they are so damned good. A mid-paced bluesy
progressive track, it leaves me with a shit-eating grin on my face.
Tobias Strandvik is one hell of a drummer and the stuff he pulls off
right away, leaves that smile of mine even bigger. And that thumping,
deep sound of Per Wiberg's bass knocks the breath out of me. What is
there to say about frontman Thomas "Juneor"Andersson? A
guitar wizard indeed and one hell of a singer! He reminds me so much
of a young bluesy Glenn Hughes and I love it!

Next
up is one of my favourite tracks, 'Get Your
Game On' and you better put on your dance
shoes for it. I keep bopping and hopping around like a madman on the
loose, playing air guitar to THOSE riffs. Man, Juneor is on fire,
just listen to the guitar solo. Groove, groove and more is the deal
on 'Made Of Gold'.
Tobias is playing a shuffle with Per backing him up elegantly. All of
a sudden they switch into proper blues mode as Juneor tears it up on
the axe. Brilliant, you hear! Those riffs people, those riffs! 'Human
Dynamo' is filled with them turning the song
into a stomper of a rocker. Kamchatka explodes right from the get-go
and they tear it up...well that is an understatement, but you get my
drift and yes, this is another of my favourites. Slowing things down
with the beautiful 'Rain',
the feel of Glenn Hughes can't be stronger and I love it.

'Who's
To Blame' is pounding me into the ground
without mercy. It's a kind of dark heavy stomper where the band pulls
out all the stops to shatter my bones to dust. Starting off slowish,
it builds up and builds up until I'm beaten to a bloody
pulp...amazing y'all! Back to the groove and wearing dance shoes,
'Mirror' has got me
bouncing off the walls since I really can't dance but who cares.
Fan-fucking-tastic people, this is how it should be, damn it! Oh
yeah, this is heavy blues at it's very best...I'm talking about
'Slowly Drifting Away'.
It's trippy, heavy and progressive all rolled into one and marinated
for days in a kettle of acid-tinged early 70's blues.

Kamchatka
are not cutting any corners, instead they open floodgates and let
their beauty wash over me. An eerie slide guitar straight from the
heart of the delta blues, starts off 'Long
Road' before Juneor starts to sing. A soft
bass line and percussions backs him up throughout with the pace
picking up slightly during the solo. 'To You'
ends the album and is the "odd" one out being more modern
in it's appearance. It has the band's trademark sound as it's
foundation but is more of a present day rocker. Despite the
off-kilter presentation, it is a very good song and fits in perfectly
well with the rest of the songs.

Their
previous album, 'The Search Goes On'
has been a big favourite of mine since it's release, so I was curious
to see if Kamchatka could emulate and move on further with 'Long
Road Made Of Gold'. And yes, hell yes, they
can and then some. Like I said in the beginning, it's the perfect and
natural continuation of it's predecessor. And I love it when great
bands keeps evolving without any seemingly difficulties. They just
write and record new stuff and won't rehash old ideas. Kamchatka is a
forerunner with that putting them in the top ranks of fantastic
bands.

Words
by Håkan Nyman

Thanks
to Brian at Fresno Media for the promo. Long Road Made Of Gold is
available to buy on CD/Vinyl now through Despotz Records.

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